El réquiem de los Desalmados Part 3, also called Chapter 119, is the one hundred twentieth chapter of the Black Lagoon manga. It was originally released on December 19, 2024.
Plot[]
In Roanapur at Los Eses' hideout, a young woman, Marie, asks Gris el Tigres if he is going to stay in bed. Asserting that he will, Gris tells her that the Council did not accept his terms and therefore reasons that they will have to attack them. Sitting down next to him, Marie asks if he is scared and comforts him by assuring him that they have always overcome everything. Agreeing with her sentiment, Gris gets up and recommends that they get something to eat, so she follows him and adds that his men are waiting for him. Elsewhere in the building, many of Gris's men happily greet him. Smirking, he informs the gangsters that the Council rejected his demand that they give him Krivchenko's head, stating that they will finish what they started in California. Gris grins and insults Roanapur's crime syndicates as a bunch of cowards. When he proudly declares that the mafias will be no match for them, the men cheer and prepare their firearms.
Meanwhile, Rock uses a public payphone to call Feng Yifei at her office. Trying to drown out the noise of Cosa Nostra gangsters yelling in anger and panic, she relays to him that Bren the Black Death's guild sent their hired murderers to the office as reinforcements. He asks if Ronnie has made any plans yet, which Feng denies since Cosa Nostra is not the first target of Los Eses, nonetheless clarifying that Ronnie still intends on attacking them. Rock then inquires about her knowledge of Los Eses but learns that she only dug up what she could find. Feng remarks that the Rip-Off Church should know more, so Rock decides to seek out their help, but not before requesting that Feng meet up with him at 8 o'clock at the Yellow Flag.
Making his next call, the ex-salaryman calls Eda, who confidently says she has information on Los Eses. Inside the church's drawing room, the nun asks that he provide a little more payment in usual, accepting his offer of paying out of his own pocket. Agreeing to meet at the Yellow Flag too, she ends the call and confirms to Sister Yolanda that Lagoon Company sought out their help. Though Yolanda assesses that the dispute at the Council could be important, Eda writes off the situation as mere infighting. Drinking some tea, the elderly nun posits that they cannot take the Mexican gangsters lightly, recalling that the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee once drove them into a corner over the Middle East. Scoffing, Eda comments that Oliver North screwed them over due to the Iran–Contra affair along with Fernando "El Negro" Chamorro's fighting. However, Yolanda advises her to be vigilant and not underestimate the situation. Agreeing, Eda yells for Rico to retrieve all of the information on drug trafficking activities in Mexico from 1985 to the present.
At the Yellow Flag, Bao tells Rock that his guests are in the back of the bar, where Feng and Eda sit together at a table. Eda and Le Majeur exchange insults, prompting Revy to order Majeur to stop their bickering. Commencing the briefing, Feng professes that she found the historical background and current status of the Nuevo Laredo Cartel. In essence, the Colombian Cartel put the Mexicans in charge of their operations due to the United States' drug and border policy which greatly weakened them. Confirming Eda's suspicion, Feng adds that the U.S.'s Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) was able to capture various drug traffickers and extradite them to the U.S. thanks to changes in law enforcement jurisdiction, in addition to the National Police of Colombia's cooperation. As a result, the Mexican gangsters seized power in Colombia.
Recalling the catalyst of the gang war, Feng reminds them that Miguel Navarro's death started the fighting and division among Mexican cartels. Although there were cartels in Sinaloa, Golfo and Tecate, Mexico, the Nuevo Laredo Cartel stood out the most in terms of territorial control. When Rock says that Fernando Lobos has been assigned to Roanapur for a long time, Revy remembers that Lobos used to work with the Girolamo Famiglia from Florida back when Jane was in the city. Continuing her explanation, Feng mentioned that Nuevo Laredo pressured Maxim P. Krivchenko of Hotel Moscow to stop doing business with other cartels and begin providing arms and money laundering via Russian financial institutions. Because of the bad look for Hotel Moscow's reputation, their leaders brought in the Vysotniki to fight the Nuevo Laredo Cartel's hit squad. Volunteering to take over the information session, Eda elaborates that Nuevo Laredo's hit squad was Los Soldados, a.k.a. Los Eses.
Summarizing Gris el Tigres's background, the nun says his real name is Edgardo Prudencio Escarpa and he came from Cananea, a poor mining town in Sonora, Mexico. Doing well in school and his social life, Gris gained admiration from his friends and also earned the chance to be on Mexico's Olympic boxing team. Admitting that she is unsure why Gris joined the military instead of going to college, Eda claims it could be because his mentor was killed by terrorists. During his time in the military, he was selected for the Mexican Army's special forces unit known as the Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales (GAFE), even studying anti-guerrilla warfare tactics at the U.S. Army's School of the Americas. With a serious look, Eda admits that Gris's path happened as a response to his hometown being threatened by violence and chaos after the fall of the Salinas administration in 1994. Furthermore, Cananea's residents were left without social power due to the cartels and the local police, the latter of whom were bribed by the mafias.
Not wanting Cananea to fall into total disarray, Gris left the military and created a following by gathering his hometown friends and his own subordinates from his time in the army. Forming a vigilante group, the young man swore to protect his town, fulfilling his word by showing no mercy to the mafias which his forces swiftly dispatched of. Even more curious, Rock asks Eda how Gris became a big name in the criminal underworld. Smiling, the nun continued that other towns began asking for Gris's help, with many people joining the new group. Despite the inner support, the vigilantes' finances from the townspeople were not enough, so Gris began to enforce things like protection fees, road tolls and bribery. At that point, the leader began to engage in drug trafficking, though he was still somewhat viewed as a hero by locals since he saved the town from cartels, fixed infrastructure and guaranteed everyone jobs.
Quelling Rock's curiosity, Eda specifies that the Tecate Cartel in Baja California was gaining strength in Sonora, which was the Nuevo Laredo Cartel's territory. Rodrigo Guerrera, the head of the latter cartel, believed that Gris's band of vigilantes could put a stop to the rival cartel that the vigilantes also fought. Being contacted by Nuevo Laredo, Gris was told that Los Eses' interests would be recognized by the cartel and they would have access to heroin from the Sierra Madre Occidental's highlands if he agreed to stop the Tecate Cartel's encroachment into Sonora. Knowing that he could not reject the offer since it would mean he had to fight two cartels, Gris accepted Nuevo Laredo's conditions. Rock expresses surprise at the story, with Feng and Eda understanding that Mexico's government did not change its policies due to the corruption and prolonged rule of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
Wanting to concoct a plan, Rock wonders how he can defuse Gris's feud and asks Eda about his hometown. Proudly confirming that she has information on Cananea, the nun tells them that the town's main industry was silver mining. She clarifies that the mines have been open since 1995 but have had no operations due to security issues. Under establishment of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a Canadian mining company gained the mining rights in the town, but they do not operate the mines because they angered Los Eses by attempting to buy the mines cheap. Thinking of a solution, Rock proposes that if Cananea's mining industry was restored, the town would be prosperous, and Gris would likely at the minimum stop engaging in drug trafficking to support the city. Needing more info, Rock asks Feng and Eda to procure state laws related to mining as well as a mediator who can settle tensions in the state of Sonora.
Feng agrees to research mining laws while Eda agrees to make a connection with an official of the Directorate General of Mines under Mexico's Ministry of Economy. Despite the plan, Eda asks Rock how he would even buy the mines or know a buyer, to which the ex-salaryman admits that he is improvising his plan as he goes along with it. As he states that he promised to Mister Chang that he would keep the bloodshed to a minimum, several Russians run into the bar and exclaim that they need any help from fellow Hotel Moscow members since LA Jewelry, a go-go bar on Rachada Street, was attacked by Los Eses. To Rock and co.'s shock, they learn that the business was bombed with everyone there being wiped out. At the same time, more of the Mexican gangsters escalate their attacks.